Safety hair-pin.



J. KOTNER.

SAFETY HAIR PIN.

APPLICATION FILED APR.21,1913.

Patented J an. 27, 1914.

- awuzmto'a LKOZ'H/en JULIUS KOTNER, OF NEW/V YORK, N. Y.

SAFETY HAIR-PIN.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JULIUS KOTNER, a subject of the Kingdom of Hungary,residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Hair-Pins;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention comprehends improve ments in hair pins and relates moreparticularly to those which are so constructed as to clamp against thehair and thus prevent loss.

The primary object of the invention resides in the provision of a safetyhair pin which is of extremely simple construction, cheap tomanufacture, and which may be easily inserted into and withdrawn fromthe hair without mussing it.

A more specific object of the invention resides in the provision of ahair pin having a pair of spring pressed prongs which are adapted to bemoved toward or a 'ay from the main prongs, said spring pressed prongsserving to clamp the entire pin firmly in position.

The invention also aims to generally improve hair pins of this nature torender them more useful, practical, and commercially desirable.

lVith these and other objects in view, as will become more apparent asthe description proceeds, the invention consists in cer tain novelfeatures of construction, combination, and arrangement of parts, as willbe hereinafter described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be had tothe following description and accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved safety hair pin, the faceplate being partly broken away and the movable prongs shown inengagement with the stationary prongs, Fig. 2 is a fragmentary viewsimilar to Fig. 1, showing the movable prongs away from engagement withthe stationary prongs, Fig. 3 is an edge elevation, and, Fig. l is atransverse section taken on the plane of line 41 of Fig. 3.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention, I provide a somewhatU-shaped hair pin having a head 5 and the prongs or legs 6, which may beof wavy formation, as

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 21, 1913.

Patented Jan. 27, 1914. Serial No. 762,625.

shown in the drawings. A recess 7 is formed in the head and opens uponone face thereof. The main portion of the recess forms an elongatedchannel which opens upon the side edges and inner edge of the head. Theremaining portion of the recess is V-shaped, as indicated at 8, andopens upon the main portion centrally of its ends.

A pair of locking prongs 9 and 10 of a somewhat shorter length than theprongs 6 and shaped to conform to the inner edges thereof, are providedfor the purpose of clamping engagement with the hair. Rectangular blocks11 and 12 are formed upon the upper ends of the prongs 9 and 10,respectively, and project entirely to one side thereof. These blocks arereceived within the body portion of the recess 7 and are held normallyin their extended positions by means of the Hat metal V-shaped spring13. This spring seats within the V-shaped portion 8 of the recess 7 andits extremities are fitted within notches 14 formed in the opposed endsof the sliding blocks. It will be noted upon reference to Fig. 1 thatthe notches 14: are shaped so as to allow the sliding blocks to beforced together without binding upon the spring.

A face plate 15 having the extensions 16 formed upon its inner edge issecured to the recessed face of the head 5 and to the prongs G by meansof suitable fasteners 17 and retains the slidingblocks and spring intheir proper positions.

lVhen the pin is inserted into the hair the sliding blocks 11 and 19.are forced toward each other which brings the prongs 6 and 9 and 10 intothe relative position shown in Fig. 2. \Vhen the pin is in proper placethe pressure is released from the sliding blocks and the spring 13forces the locking prongs 9 and 10 toward the prongs G,without clampingagainst the hair.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, it will be seen that I have provided a very simply constructedsafety hair pin, the parts of which may be easily assembled, and whichmay be easily inserted into and removed from the hair without mussingthe same.

It is to be understood that while I have shown and described thepreferred embodiment of my invention, I do not wish to be limited tothis exact construction, combination, and arrangement of parts, but maymake such changes as will fall within the spirit and scope of theinvention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A safety hair pincomprising a U- shaped pin having a head and a pair of prongs, blocksslidable within recesses formed in the head, looking prongs formed uponsaid blocks for engagement with the inner edges of the first mentionedprongs, and spring means for forcing the blocks away from each other,whereby the locking prongs are moved toward the prongs of the U-shapedpin.

2. The combination with a hair pin including a recessed head and a pairof prongs, of a pair of sliding blocks movable longitudinally withinsaid recess, a locking prong formed upon the inner end of each of saidsliding blocks for engagement with the inner edge of one of thefirstmentioned prongs, and a V-shaped spring also positioned within therecess formed in the head and having its extremities inserted withinnotches formed in the opposed ends of the sliding blocks, said springtending to force said blocks normally away from each other.

In testimony whereof I afiiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JULIUS KOTNER.

Witnesses BERNIATH Y. SIEGEL, A. S. KOTTNER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0.

